Known planetsg With a mass at least 91% of Jupiter, the gas giant orbits with a period of 1040 days, or 2.85 years at an average distance of 2.10 AU (196 million miles), or 38 percent greater than the size of Mars's path around the Sun. A modest orbital eccentricity takes the planet from as far as 2.48 AU from its parent star to 1.72 AU.

Habitable zoneg NA

Orbital mapg NA

View from starg NA

Nearby stars
(Star systems with 10 light years)g NA

Map locating star systemg NA

Location in Earth skyg In constellation Eridanus, not far from Achernar Alpha

Habitable zoneg 37 Geminorum has many physical properties in common with the Sun and is one of the nearest solar twins. Due to this fact some scientists believe that the prospects for life in its vicinity are good. In September, 2003, 37 Geminorum was identified by astrobiologist Margaret Turnbull from the University of Arizona in Tucson as one of the most promising nearby candidates for hosting life based on her analysis of the HabCat list of stars.g A METI message sent to 37 Geminorum on Sept. 3, 2001. It was transmitted from Eurasia's largest radar — 70-meter Eupatoria Planetary Radar. The message was named the Teen Age Message, and it will arrive at 37 Geminorum in December 2057.

Monday, September 6, 2010

Ageg 6.25 billion years (Star formed with the stars of the Hyades cluster but slowly drifted away and is now more than 130 light-years away from its original birthplace.)

Radius/Mass/Temp (xSol)g 150%; 103%; 6125 K

Brightness (xSol)g 179.1%

Metallicity (xSol)g150%Comparison to Solg NA

Picture of starg See picture (courtesy Digital Sky Survey/VirGO)

Star system featuresg NA

Known planetsg Iota Horologii b: A 224% Jupiter mass planet orbits star every 311.3 days at 0.91 AUg A planet in an eccentric orbit with a period of approximately 600 days was proposed, however this was not confirmed and it seems likely that the effect was due to activity on Iota Horologii itself.g In 2000, a dust disc was announced around the star, but this was later determined to be an instrumental artifact.

Habitable zoneg Stability analysis reveals that the orbits of Earth-sized planets located in the planet's Trojan points would be stable for long periods of time. Ranked 69th in the list of candidates for NASA's planned Terrestrial Planet Finder mission.

Location in Earth skyg In Southern constellation Horologium, near the stars Mu Horologii and R Horologii (though star is not close to them in distance).

Other namesg Gliese 108, HD 17051 HIP 12653, HR 810

Sci-fi mentionsg In Russell Lutz’s novel “Iota Cycle”, Iota Horologii is a setting for colonization and terraforming. It has six planets, the second, Asia, being Iota Horologii b. The planets are named after the continents of Earth, in order from closest to the star: Australia, Asia, Europe, Africa, America, and Antarctica. g In Michael Puttré’s novel “Outre Mer”, the earthlike moon Outre Mer orbits the gas giant Adonis, the second planet of Iota Horologii. It is populated by human refugees, descendants of adbuctees taken by the Greys, inhabitants of the systems of Zeta Reticuli. The world is also the home of the Duranni, an intelligent aboriginal species. g In the Halo video game series, Soell is the traditional name given to Iota Horologii, the star that Threshold, Basis and Installation 04 orbit.g In "Star Trek" universe, is located near Sierra Outpost I on Romulan Neutral Zone

About Me

I'm the owner and chief editor at Inventing Reality Editing Service, which meets the editing and proofreading needs of writers both new and published. For more than two decades, I worked as an award-winning journalist, with half of those years spent as an editor. Several of my short stories in the literary and science fiction genres have been published, and I am the author of the nonfiction “Hikes with Tykes” series, a novel "Windmill", and a collection of poetry, "Love Letters to Sophie's Mom". For seven years I worked as an English teacher or a community college journalism instructor. I hold a master's degree in English and a bachelor's in journalism and English.